BUSN6004 Managing Information Systems

Information systems are implemented by most of the companies in today’s world for the successful and more efficient implementation of the business operations. The organizations are coming up with their own innovations in technology as well as business strategies using information systems in order to compete with its market competitors.

The following report will highlight the different internal as well as external factors such as market analysis, economic considerations associated with the implementation of information systems within the organizations will be discussed in details in the following paragraphs. By the end of the report, the reader will have a clear understanding of the role of information systems within the organizations and recommendations will be provided regarding development plans for the organization in the field of information technology and information systems.

Amazon has come up with different kinds of advanced innovations in information systems for the overall efficiency of its business operations. It has used information systems to automate processes within the business as well as help managers take better business decisions. Some of the most important applications of information systems as used by Amazon are explained below:

• A transaction processing system: Every customer needs to create his own profile in amazon.com in order to place any order and he can personalize his account using web tools such as like shopping cart as well as wish list. The one click purchase feature of this system also enables the customers to directly place any order without even having to fill up the order form each time (Luo et al. 2013). The secure debit card/credit card system included in this innovative information system also ensures that the transactions are carried out securely.
• A recommendation system and an interactive searching system: Based on the previous shopping behavior of a particular customer the search engine algorithm will return recommended products to the customer to improve his surfing and online shopping experience (Vieru and Rivard 2014). In the process of searching, any particular product the customer is also often asked for feedbacks and surveys related to the overall experience and further improvement and maintenance of the website.

                                                           

                               Figure 1: Transaction processing system of Amazon (Source: As used by the author)

• A prominent market image: The excellent image that the ecommerce giant Amazon maintains across the world in terms of the quality of products and after sales service is one of its major strengths.
• Excellent structure of cost planning: Amazon has been able to efficiently determine it areas of investments in field of technology as well as information systems. It ensures it is always in a process of upgrading its business models as well as internal operations to ensure that it consistently meets the level of expectations from the customers as well as the ever-changing needs of the market.
• Innovation in products/services: Amazon has recently come up with its all-new Bluetooth speakers that supports Alexa, which is capable of controlling home appliances. It can power on and off home appliances from anywhere (Learn.scu.edu.au, 2018). It has also come up with its innovative application known as the anytime app that is more user friendly than the previous mobile application that it had.

• Amazon has only used information systems for its ecommerce operations, whereas other avenues of growth and better business are also possible using advanced systems and better business models.
• Amazon does not have proper back up plans for the future in case its market competitors such as Jabong and eBay come up with better and more attractive technological innovations.

• Amazon can look forward to opening brick and mortar physical retail stores across the United Stated first that would make use of advanced information systems as well as upgraded technologies eliminating the need of use of its online application for users how would prefer to visit their offline stores (Venkatesh, Brown and Bala 2013). In this way, Amazon can also capture the market comprising of people who are not that technology friendly and still prefer brick and mortar stores in the markets.

Dell-EMC has recently come up with innovations in information technology in the field of medical healthcare. Advanced technology solutions have been provided by the organization for EMR optimization, which is capable of performing tasks such as medical imaging, genomics as well as digital pathology. EMC has made use of the innovations in the information systems as to build hybrid cloud infrastructures to prepare the healthcare industry for the ever-changing future. EMC is helping them to build a trusted hybrid cloud infrastructure to prepare for the future (Laudon and Laudon 2015). It will empower the doctors as well as other healthcare professionals to drive agility in business as well as becoming the IT services brokers in the future.

• Dell-EMC has recently come up with innovations in its big data analytics tools in which the capacity to quickly gain the capacity of web scale has been incorporated. This has been done without any service disruption by core scaling with the cloud architecture. Need for data migrations has been eliminated using these innovations in the bog data analytics within the organization causing it to be a success.
• Massive data storage capacity using a centralized repository of big data information systems.
• In addition, the gaps in organizational data storage techniques have been eliminated. Newer opportunities have been identified and complex tasks such as descriptive/predictive data analytics or even diagnostics have been benefitted using the innovations in the information systems.

• There are different kinds of issues in the heterogeneous storage area networks within the connection that still has to be properly addressed by Dell-EMC.
• Dell-EMC should consolidate the servers in order to ensure better and smoother business operations, which in turn will also be beneficial for the customers.
• Proper support post implementation of dell servers should be provided to the clients as well as customers (Xu et al. 2014). The company has presently designed no such information systems and the challenge remains.

• Dell must develop innovations in storage technologies in order to enable customers better optimize technologies and incorporate the storage solutions in a rapid rate. This can help the company to maximize the uptime of systems in unforeseen production environments.
• Dell must make use of more cost effective and efficient tools in order to overcome the heterogeneous issues faced in the storage networks as suggested by IDC.
• Dell should also come up with innovations in their information systems in disaster management in order to ensure that there are no loss of data and normal operations continue even in unforeseen situations such as system breakdown or natural disasters.

Toyota innovations were aimed to respond efficiently to the dynamic external environment and the changing market needs in the automobile industry. Rapid globalization as well as innovations in car technologies, as well as in the sales and marketing division of Toyota (J.X and Quaddus 2013). Car electronics have seen immense development, by taking the economy of Japan as well as the rest of the world into consideration.

Toyota has been able to attain such success in office automation and corporate business applications by coming up with its own CAD/CAM systems in order to generate newer avenues of business activities and extended them to the different suppliers for better supply-chain management within the organization. In the period of 1990s to early 2000s, administrative decisions have been improved from the overall improvement of the information systems in the management structure (Bharati and Chaudhury 2015). From early 2000s, Toyota started implementing information systems on a global scale in its famous Toyota production system in order to standardize all of its business operations as well as systems of application to make more efficient use of the available resource and information (Chatterjee and Ravichandran 2013). Changes were also seen in their IT framework such as integrated circuit network systems were standardized on a global scale and a more advanced systems using TCP/IP model started to be used in Japan as well as their other branches all across the world (Bell 2013). Systems development has always been prioritized by Toyota using advanced innovations and techniques of information systems.

                                       

                                Figure 2: Toyota assemble plant at Indonesia (Source: As used by the author).

• Use of the Toyota production system that ensures that ensures lean manufacturing and eliminating waste or “muda”. Information systems are so designed that it meets the human corporate behaviors in order to facilitate managers take better decision about their productivity (Davies, Dean and Ball 2013).
• Another important success factor for Toyota revolves around its people. Toyota believes in the principle of Kaizen shows that shows that it expects the employees to be in a continuous process of self-development. This is attained by information systems as well as knowledge management systems aimed for training and development purposes within the organization. This also helps the company to eliminate waste or “muda”.

• Previously the company had been producing automobiles that did not abide by the “Japan air pollution control act” and manufactured vehicles that produced large amounts of carbon monoxide emissions into the atmosphere.
• Employee vandalism due to implementation of newer technologies and innovations, which were not readily accepted, by many employees and factory workers was another important challenge for the organization (Hitomi 2017). Often these posed market threats as well   since the changing market needs or even the customers did not accept some of the company’s innovations in the past.

• Toyota should hire more number of pollution control professionals and make use of more scientific and advanced techniques such as the Compound Vortex Controlled Combustion or (CVCC) method using the philosophy of  “Toyota total clean system”. Catalytic methods should also be used in the laboratories to check the emission levels or harmful gases before actually implementing them in their automobiles.
• The organization should also come up with innovations in the field of training and development of the employees since employee self-development is one of the key aims of Toyota (Stow 2014). Often due to employee job dissatisfaction, issues such as vandalism and improper customer service and lack of interest of factory workers have been seen in the past within the company.

General electric has been able to implement Electronic Recording Machine, Accounting (ERMA) information systems in the past in order to create an automatic check clearance system with an association with the Bank of America. This resulted in formation of magnetic ink character recognition or the (MICR) standards that is used on the checks today (Stair and Reynolds 2013). This shows how innovative General electric has always been ever since it adopted the innovations in information systems. The technology as well as the systems were so designed such that the legitimacy as well as originality of the important paper documents could be verified, especially the checks (Deng, Mao and Wang 2013). A special ink that is sensitive magnetic field sensitive is used in the technology while printing specific letter or numbers on the checks used in the banks. General electric was the inventor of such a technology for the banking industry.

• Marketing in business-to-business lines were first started by GE, which focused on diversifying their range of products and services and enriching the lives of the people.
• Every year GE spends more than US $150 million for corporate advertisements in order to promote their core values and products all across the world (Friedman 2017). Efficient information systems manage important organizational tasks such as budget planning and cost factors.
• GE has very flexible options for the airlines in terms of pricing the aircraft engines so that the companies do not have to take financial risks while purchasing aircraft engines form the GE. This feature is highly valued and is a major success factor for GE.

• GE has to work more on promoting its brand value on a global scale to ensure that its impact reaches the larger market segment.
• The company has to look forward to spread a unified message of product branding. Different GE product offerings in the business-to-business segments such as aircraft engines, medical systems as well as plastics should all be branded under a common GE logo in order to spread its unified values across the markets (Rajaguru and Matanda 2013). This would need efficient and well-structured innovations in information systems in all branches of the organization across the world.

• GE already spends huge amount of money for corporate marketing in order to increase their business-to-business sales (O’Brien and Maracas 2011). Innovations in technology should also be incorporated in order to innovate the aircraft engines and make them future proof.
• GE should also ensure better employee job satisfaction and make sure that the factory workers follow the safety guidelines at all points of time. Employee training and development can be improved using more recent and in innovative knowledge management systems within the work operations.

Employees should have a positive work attitude and should always be in a constant process of designing innovative ideas. New changes within the organizations should be properly communicated to them and adequate training should be provided (Hashem et al.  2015). Mangers should support their subordinates and should be flexible in decision-making processes.

The personality as well as the ability of the employees lay a very important role in the organization. Employees should be optimistic and exhibit a willingness to adapt to changes and learning new technologies.

The internal management should be able to address the needs of the employees and ensure optimum job satisfaction.

• The rate of innovation within the organizations should be able to cope up with the rate of launch of counter products by the competitors as well as changing economic conditions of the market.

• The success factors of innovations depend a lot on the industry or field of innovation. For example, an innovative product or service in the aircraft industry is not as much flexible as an ecommerce innovation.

• Innovations are often misused by the children that has adverse social implications (Rainer et al. 2013). Misuse of innovative electronic gadgets my hackers to hack organizational information causes huge economic losses for the companies especially during events of ransom ware attacks.

• According to Pearson and Saunders (2013), everyday a new technology or innovative product is being manufactured which is a potential loss for the company since much of the investment goes on a technology that is about to be obsolete in the near future.

• Laws of profit appropriation and gain also referred to as the law of market motion.
• Demand and supply laws should be considered by the organizations.
• Governmental policies pertaining to environmental standards and other aspects should also be taken into consideration.

                                     

                                   Figure 3: Market environment for organizations (Source: As used by the author).

Therefore, it can be concluded for the above report that even though there are multiple advantages of information systems as well as information technology in the organizations in today’s world there are different kinds of disadvantages too that has to be addressed by the organization I order to ensure efficient functioning of the organizations at different levels. If the ethical as well as organization internal factors can be properly addressed by the organization during implementing newer technologies and information systems, the organizations will reach grater heights in the future.

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